Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Invests $241,000 in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS)

Key Points

• Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired 3,599 shares of A. O. Smith Corporation for approximately $241,000 in the first quarter, contributing to the institutional ownership of 76.10% in the company.
• A. O. Smith's latest quarterly earnings report revealed a EPS of $1.07, exceeding expectations, despite a 1.3% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, with a Dividend Yield of 1.9%, indicating a stable return for shareholders.

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,599 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AOS. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 178,543 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,670,000 after purchasing an additional 15,769 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,089 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 75.8% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 402,039 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,277,000 after purchasing an additional 173,366 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,085 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on A. O. Smith in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.43.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $72.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 510,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,556,180. The stock has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. A. O. Smith Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $92.06.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.89 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.42% and a net margin of 13.68%. The company's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. Research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.88%.

Insider Transactions at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, Chairman Kevin J. Wheeler sold 22,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $1,581,972.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 100,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,172,105.22. This trade represents a 18.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, heat pumps, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, and point-of-use carbon and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.